Soldering

[Anonymous]

What kind of solder and flux do I purchase for soldering rail joiners. Thank you for your help.
Jim Colehour - Bloomington,MN

[Anonymous]

I use the very small in diameter, rosin core electroncs solder... comes in small rolls sold at Radio Shack. Flux - I have a small plastic container of water-soluable flux (its about the consistancy of Vaseline)... just dab a bit on the joint with a toothpick. One container of this (I bought mine, probably ten or more years ago at a hardware store) should last a lifetime.

Hope this helps,
Earl

[ARTHILL]

Hi Bloomington, I'm from New Brighton. Earl gives good advise. Buy good stuff and use the flux paste. Its is easier to wipe off than to try to redo a joint that did not have enough flux. I assume you have a good iron that gets hot enough to heat the rail before it melts the ties down the line or the road bed.

[Blind Bruce]

Use 1/32 ( or similar metric size ) Dia. rosin core solder and paste flux. Do not buy more than you can use in two years as the flux loses most of its' activation in that time. Of course, you can use it beyond that time, but the joint will require more heat and more flux to achieve similar results. Two to three seconds maximum per joint.
BB